Let’s face it, lawyering is difficult. We all have days where it feels as though the ground beneath us is about to give and we’re spiraling out of control. When you feel this way, what coping mechanism do you use to feel grounded again? Practicing mindfulness allows us to pause, reflect, and respond from a place of calm rather than reacting.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that practicing mindfulness is good for you. It helps to decrease the impact of stress on your body, allows you to manage anxiety better, and lowers blood pressure and a host of stress-related psychosomatic symptoms. The list of what mindfulness can do seems to be growing daily.

As I tour around the country, traveling to dozens of cities, giving talks, having one-on-one meetings with lawyers, and engaging in honest dialogue about life as a lawyer, one common theme I see is this: too many of us are living a dream that wasn’t meant for us.

Here’s what I know — life is short. Yes, I realize that’s a bit of a cliché to say it but you have this one life and one opportunity to fulfill your potential. Career transitions are rarely easy and the one piece of key advice I’d like to offer is to be kind to yourself as you move through the stages.

Here’s the thing. Your clients and your firm will never tell you — you’ve been working too much. Why don’t you take a day off? It is up to each and every one of us to know ourselves well enough to say, I need a day off.